Waylens Horizon – The Auto Enthusiasts dash cam!

The dash cam is an increasingly popular means by which one monitors their driving and road conditions. More frequently, they are being used as a safeguard in unsafe driving claims and court proceedings following a car accident. However, what if there was a high definition dash cam that could simply record your vehicle’s performance data using a fun and intuitive app and allow you to share it with your friends? Well, now there is, with the Waylens Horizon.

The Horizon system takes great care to capture everything it can about your vehicle including its location, absolute orientation in space, stereo audio, and atmospheric pressure and does so using GPS and OBD2 performance data taken directly from your vehicle. The system is comprised of three primary components – a stunning aluminum clad OLED touch screen camera that captures full HD video even in low light; an OBD2 transmitter that plugs directly into your car to capture diagnostic information and lastly a steering wheel mounted remote control that allows users to capture and later edit, and share exciting moments—in real time using the accompanying Bluetooth connected app.

The system which is described by its creators as “the only camera built for auto enthusiasts” captures driving data and encourages users to share their performance test results to the Waylens community, a customized ranking system has also been developed to make it much more fun. We like to think of this as – Driving: The Video Game. The 10Hz GPS, 9-axis motion sensor, and car performance data are automatically overlaid on video taken from the Horizon in a Need for Speed like point of view of “interesting moments” right from the road.

After testing this product this past month, we are a little perplexed by what would make someone buy this product. First, we will say that as a dash cam, this is probably one of the most premium cameras on the market with video quality that is second to none. On the other hand, we can’t help but feel that given the ability to record driving data and have it overlaid over the video in a game like format may encourage some drivers to be more irresponsible on the road just to move up the rankings or to share on social media and this is a scary thought. Although, for those petrol heads out there, the data provided by the OBD2 transmitter does help users understand their car on a deeper level and figure out what makes it tick. So, our conclusion – this product is a contradiction and simply put, will not be for everyone.

If you are serious about your driving habits and want data driven analysis of how you handle the road, then you too should check out the Waylens Horizon.